Personal Travel Concierge App
25% More Engagement in 6 Months
Manager of Information Architecture and UX @ Interval International
The Problem
Vistana Signature Experiences needed a modern mobile app to guide members through researching resorts, planning activities, and enhancing their on-property stays. With bookings handled externally, the app’s role was to bridge planning, pre-arrival, and on-site moments to keep guests engaged from search to check-out.
Check out the production version on The App Store
My Role
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Led UX strategy and information architecture for the full app experience
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Created a journey map covering planning, pre-arrival, and on-property phases
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Built user flows, wireframes, sketches, and final mockups in Axure RP
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Aligned senior stakeholders around a clear vision for feature rollout
Deliverables
Live Product: Vistana App (Now Rebranded as Marriott Vacation Club App)
Deliverables: User Flow, Customer Journey Map, Persona Study, App Sketches, Wireframes via Axure RP
Project Type: Fully developed wireframe prototype
Team: Senior Product Designer (me), 2 IOS Developers, 1 Android developer, 2 Product Managers
The Challenge
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No unified digital journey for members beyond the booking engine
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Needed to support planning and real-time, location-based services
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Multiple stakeholders with different priorities for member engagement
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Deliver a rich prototype that balanced UX complexity with dev feasibility
Key Decisions/Moves
Constraint
Multiple guest phases had to be supported to create an app that added value to members beyond just viewing properties.
With an external booking flow, we had to think about how to redirect members to a mobile-friendly experience once they found a property they wanted to book into
Members on-property needed a way to interact with the resort staff, restaurantes and actitivies
Decision
Split experience into 3 clear stages: Planning, Pre-Arrival, On-Property
Focused app UX on property discovery + redirect to existing engine
Added on-property GPS-driven UI updates and reminders
Impact
Increased relevance and daily usage by 45% in the first month
Enabled fast launch without backend overhaul
Boosted daily active sessions during stays and received excellent reviews from members
The Work
Personas
Clarified who we were designing for at each phase of the vacation journey — ensuring features and flows matched real member goals and expectations.
App UI Sketches
Rough early sketches showing layout variations, navigation patterns, and UI ideas for experience-triggered features.
App Mockups
High-fidelity mobile screens (iOS and Android) showcasing the polished UI for property browsing, activity booking, on-site concierge features, and daily resort info.
Business Outcomes
+45%
Increase in usage and on-property usage within 6 months via IOS and Android
700k
Downloads resulting in higher engagement at each vacation stage → repeat bookings more likely
4.6
Seamless experience connecting planning, activities, and on-site touchpoints resulted in a higher app rating
Leanings & what's next
Building this app showed me that great guest experiences come from structure, empathy — and constant alignment behind the scenes.
We didn’t have direct access to members for live prototype testing, so I leaned on clear communication and tight collaboration with multiple onshore and offshore teams to bridge that gap.
If I did it again, I’d push for early member testing too — because real voices are always the best blueprint.